A solar cell is a photoelectric conversion device which converts sunlight into electric energy. As the solar cell, a single crystalline silicon solar cell or a polycrystalline silicon solar cell has been mainly used so far. However, the silicon solar cell has high manufacturing cost due to the use of large, expensive equipment and expensive materials at the time of manufacturing the silicon solar cell and has a limitation in improving conversion efficiency of solar energy into electric energy, and as a result, new alternatives have been sought to substitute for the silicon solar cell. As an alternative of the silicon solar cell, a solar cell which may be manufactured using inexpensive organic materials has received attention. In particular, a dye-sensitive solar cell which may be manufactured very cheaply has received much attention.
Unlike other energy sources, the solar cell is infinite and environmentally-friendly. As a result, importance of the solar cell has increased and applications thereof are becoming more frequent as time goes on. To keep pace with the trend, car makers have developed and released vehicles in which the solar cell and a system for using electric energy output from the solar cell are equipped.
However, the vehicle in which the solar cell is equipped has a problem in utilizing the electric energy output from the solar cell.
US Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-0096885 (hereinafter, Document 1) which is the related art document discloses a method for operating an air conditioning system using power from a solar cell.
However, Document 1 does not provide an alternative of a method for determining charging conditions of a battery for a vehicle using power generated from a solar cell or charging the battery using power generated from an engine while driving. That is, Document 1 does not disclose a method for effectively using power generated from a solar cell.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.